Jerry Mastey
Editor
School of Dentistry
(734) 615-1971
jmastey@umich.edu
New Era in Preclinical Education Begins
Technology Gives Dental Students "Front Row Seats"
Because of a generous $2 million dollar commitment from an alumnus who earned his dental degree from U-M in 1932, students will soon be using the latest technology that will, in effect, bring clinical dental education directly to their desktops.
That education will occur in the totally renovated west preclinic, recently renamed the Dr. Roy H. Roberts Preclinical Laboratory, where 110 new workstations have been installed for use by first- and second-year dental students.
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One of the major features in each workstation is a television monitor that allows students to watch instructors demonstrate various dental procedures using an array of resources — computers (desktop or laptop), the Internet or World Wide Web, DVDs, 35 mm slides, videotapes, an intraoral camera, and a device resembling a flatbed scanner.
An elevated platform gives an instructor a bird’s eye view of the workstations in the 3,300 square foot west preclinic. A desktop on the platform allows instructors to use a nearby flat-screen monitor as a chalk board or telestrator for emphasis. Nearby, small television cameras can zoom in and out as well as rotate 360 degrees. The cameras can televise live demonstrations of instructors using mannequin heads to illustrate procedures that range from preparing teeth for restorations to crown preparations.
“Each student now has a front row seat to observe these procedures,” said Dr. Merle Jaarda, a preclinical instructor and an associate professor of dentistry. Previously, students gathered around an instructor to observe a dental procedure.
Beneath each student’s desktop, in a cabinet on the lower left hand side of each workstation, is a mannequin head attached to a platform. The mannequin head, which a student pulls out, pivots right and left to simulate a patient’s position for any type of dental procedure. The equipment helps dental students learn correct ergonomic positioning to maximize their dexterity skills.
The School’s preclinics play a crucial role in dental education. First- and second-year dental students develop and refine the motor skills they need before administering oral health care, such as learning how to hold and use dental instruments, as well as practicing basic techniques on mannequins.
During their second year, dental students continue working in preclinics, but gradually begin applying the basic skills they have learned in clinics. They also assist third- and fourth-year dental students who provide oral health care.
Dr. Roy Roberts
A gift of $1 million from Dr. Roy Roberts (DDS 1932) and his wife, Natalie, and a $1 million allocation from a previous gift from the Roberts, helped launch the renovations. Dr. Roberts, who is now 97 years old, saw pictures of the renovations in January when former Dean Dr. William Kotowicz and Director of Development Diana Neering visited the Roberts at their Florida home.
“He was pleased to see the progress that was being made and seeing how different things would be,” Kotowicz said. “As he looked at the pictures, Roy talked about some of his experiences as a dental student at Michigan. He was especially pleased to know that students would no longer have to crowd around one another and strain to see an instructor demonstrate a procedure as they used to do when he was a student at Michigan in the late twenties and early thirties,” Kotowicz added.
Neering said “Dr. Roberts was excited to know that his gift to the School of Dentistry would be making a major difference in the lives of so many students for years to come.”
U-M Regents authorized renovations to the west preclinic in January 2003, the first to that facility since the School of Dentistry Building was constructed in 1969. Renovations began to the west preclinic almost as soon as classes ended last April.
The cost to renovate both the west and east preclinics will total approximately $7 million. Other funds are being raised from gifts from alumni and friends of the School of Dentistry.
The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care, and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the School to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia, and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit the Web at http://www.dent.umich.edu.